Thoughts from the interface of science, religion, law and culture

After spending several years touring the country as a stand up comedian, Ed Brayton tired of explaining his jokes to small groups of dazed illiterates and turned to writing as the most common outlet for the voices in his head. He has appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show and the Thom Hartmann Show, and is almost certain that he is the only person ever to make fun of Chuck Norris on C-SPAN.

EVENTS

‘Psychic’ Bus Driver Fired After ‘Premonitions’

A bus driver in Scotland who thought he was psychic has been fired for refusing to pick up children at certain locations on his usual route because he had a premonition that something bad would happen if he did so. And he says he’s going to appeal that decision.

A PSYCHIC bus driver has been sacked after refusing to pick up schoolchildren – because had a “premonition” that something bad would happen.

The clairvoyant driver, who has not been named, left the children standing at the side of the road in Dundee…

After he explained that a psychic premonition led to him to leave children at the roadside, the driver was promptly dismissed.

The man insisted he left the children at the roadside because he sensed “something bad would happen”.

Yesterday the driver told his local paper that he planned to to fight his dismissal.

The psychic bus driver turned out to be right. Something bad DID happen to the children.

They were left standing at the side of the road.

Really, it’s easy enough for the driver to defend himself. If his intuitions are so reliable then he ought to be able to demonstrate them under controlled laboratory conditions. But I bet they’re not quite that reliable.

So he gets fired because something terrible didn’t happen to the kids, because he acted to prevent it. As he appears to have averted disaster, I think he should get a medal. LOGIC!

Seriously though, this is a great premise for one of those paint-by-numbers domestic horror movies where the wife sees strange things and her husband thinks she’s crazy.

After losing their eldest child to a senseless tragedy, Judy and Steve Miller move to a new town and try to move on with their lives. But before too long Judy is beset by strange visions, and Steve doesn’t know what to make of his wife’s odd behavior. Is Judy still reeling from the death of her son? Or is something far more sinister at play…

Fleeting glimpses of creepy children, strange sounds in the basement, a near wreck on her bus driving route that the school officials agree to cover up because they feel sorry for Judy, and then the realization that the only way she can prevent tragedy is to sacrifice herself. She drives the bus over a cliff into a quarry filled with alligators and dynamite, and everybody thinks that she killed herself from despair when really she did it to save their children.

Judge: “You were hired to pick up children at certain stops along a route, is that correct.”
Idiot: “Yes.”
Judge: “Did you pick them up?”
Idiot:”No.”
Judge: “Case dismissed, you’re still fired. Moron.”